Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Yes Daniel, the OMB Did Have Climate Change in Mind When They Still Insisted on a 7 Percent Discount Rate

In the context of my recent Senate testimony on the “social cost of carbon,” my favorite Keynesian grad student said that for all we know, the OMB guidelines (which require reporting CBA in terms of a 7% discount rate, as well as 3% and others that might be appropriate to the situation) was just a […]

A Letter From Guantanamo Bay

Josie Harris reads a letter from a guy who’s been in Guantanamo Bay for 11 years without being charged with anything. In the background is rapper “Mos Def” actually being force fed to demonstrate how awful it is. If you’re pressed for time, just start watching at the 1:00 mark. It’s disturbing but it’s important […]

With Friends Like Me, Sumner Doesn’t Need Enemies

Noah Smith launched a completely unfair attack on Scott Sumner when he wrote: …monetarists like Scott Sumner often spend a lot of time “punching hippies” on every issue other than monetary policy, trying to avoid being tarred as hippies themselves for their lack of fear of inflation. (Note to Sumner: This strategem has quite noticeably […]

Who Said It?

Look at this guy talking about China: China is in big trouble. We’re not talking about some minor setback along the way, but something more fundamental. The country’s whole way of doing business, the economic system that has driven three decades of incredible growth, has reached its limits. You could say that the Chinese model […]

Murphy Testimony to the EPW Senate Committee

Here’s my full written testimony, and below is my 5-minute summary. Needless to say, Senators Boxer, Whitehouse, and Sanders didn’t care for my thoughts on the social cost of carbon.

Potpourri

==> You know how whatever plane the president gets on, becomes Air Force One by definition? Well today and tomorrow my laptop+nervous system are operating out of the DC offices of IER, so that’s where Consulting By RPM now is. ==> The best abstract for a scientific paper ever? ==> Common but improper uses of […]

Promotional Update

==> On Wednesday IER has its carbon tax conference; will be some great stuff in our presentations. If you’re in the DC area you should come by; otherwise I’ll post the videos here when they’re ready. ==> On Thursday I’ll be testifying before the Senate on the “social cost of carbon.” ==> What’s the current […]

My Son On How to Help the Third World

I asked my 8-year-old how the rich United States could help horribly poor Bangladesh. He said, “Have 747s fly over Bangladesh and dump $100,000,000,000 out of the cargo bay. It will make them richer and help us at the same time.” Cute, huh? Ha ha, got you. That wasn’t my son at all, it was […]